The Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta starts on April 18 for any Xbox One owners who played Gears of War Ultimate Edition on Xbox One or PC before April 11.

Then after an "early access" period for these players, an open beta for all Xbox Live Gold will begin on April 25, running until May 1 when the Beta comes to an end.

However later today, Gears of War 4 developers The Coalition will be hosting a livestream, where it will play the game with some "special guests."

And during that livestream the team plan to hand out "tons of keys" that let players jump into the games Multiplayer Beta three days before everyone else in the world.

Adam Fletcher, the Director of Community for Gears of War 4 and The Coalition, took to the game's official forums to tell players:

"We will also be giving away tons of keys during the stream and winners can start playing the beta THREE DAYS EARLY starting on April 15th at 3pm PT!

"You will also have additional opportunities to win keys throughout that weekend. We will have more information to share on the stream shortly so stay tuned!"

It was also revealed that there will be additional opportunities to win keys throughout the weekend, details for which will be shared during the stream.

Gears of War 4 Screenshots

All the available screenshots for Microsofts upcoming Xbox One exclusive for Gears of War 4

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Microsoft

Gears of War 4 - Horde 3.0 Screenshots

Gears of War 4 launches October 11. That's a little under six months away.

But as of next week, April 18th to be more precise, GoW fans who played the Ultimate Edition will finally have access to the new multiplayer beta.

Following the conclusion of early access on April 24, Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox One will also be invited to join the bloodthirsty fun until it ends on May 1.

Recently Daily Star Online had the chance to meet members of the games developers from The Coalition and to get our big ugly mitts on the multiplayer to see it for ourself before anyone else.

And before we go into too much detail about what you can look forward to, let's just say quickly say that the new Gears multiplayer is quite simply flawless.

This is a take no prisoners, strategic, highly entertaining and bloodthirsty shooter which could not only be the best multiplayer experience this Winter, but potentially for many moons into the future thanks to a full suite of ever changing multiplayer maps and modes.

The official website for Gears 4 has already revealed that we'll see the worldwide exclusive reveal of a new competitive mode for Gears of War 4 - likely Escalation mode, which we've touched on briefly in our new Multiplayer modes preview.

Microsoft

Gears of War 4 Multiplayer Beta

Gears of War 4 is set to be released October 11 for Xbox One.

A PC version may also be released, but nothing has been confirmed at this stage.